A friend is trying to talk me into making the 3.5 hour drive to Calgary to see Rush. If it wasn't a Tuesday (or Wednesday) night I'd seriously consider it. From what I can remember, they were pretty tight and high energy when I saw them in Guelph 29 or 30 years ago (during my hazy undergraduate days).

Last night was Chris Botti and Band at the Vancouver International Jazz Festival. Fantastic show as usual. Waited after the show for the meet and greet/autographs etc. Spoke with Chris and band. Very nice people! Actually spent around 10 minutes chatting with drummer Billy Kilson.

I drove from Calgary to Saskatoon to see Herbie Hancock, Vinnie Colaiuta, Nathan East, and Lionel Loueke.

It was THE most amazing show I have ever seen. Vinnie was playing at his best (I really only came to see Vinnie play).

He is the most amazing drummer I have ever seen. I am very thankfull that I made the 6 hour trip there, and 6 hours back after the concert was over. Words cannot express how amazing the concert was, if you are into fusion, I would HIGHLY recommend Herbie Hancock's quartet, they are on tour now.

Quote: Well, it wasn't last night, but last week we saw Césaria Évora. She was wonderful!

What a coincidence,I saw her this past weekend at the WolfTrap VA. It was indeed wonderful.It’s funny how I discover her, about 3 or 4 years ago I was at the ‘new released ’ DVD music area at Borders and saw Cesaria’s DVD. I had no idea who she was, by her looks I thought she was a Jazz/blues singer so I put it in my basket. When my wife and I first watched the concert I was at first taken aback by the music, didn’t really like it, especially the alto sax, not really my fav instrument. I did find interesting and odd how the music sounded very similar to folk music from Puerto Rico (I’m from PR), two colonies that never shared cultures, at least, not directly. Anyway, we listened to the whole concert and my wife loved it. I thought it was ok but I was not crazy about it. My wife kept requesting the concert every time we had a wine&cheese nights so eventually I learned to like it. Her vocals are excellent; it’s just the music, maybe the performers, that is just ok.

_________________________
The sailor does not pray for wind, he learns to sail. --Lindborg

OK, better late than never, here is the official medic8r review of the Rush show in Bristow, VA on Saturday, 6-23-07. Spoilers abound, so buyer beware.

After getting a late start (D’Oh!), I met up with pmbuko at Five Guys, introducing him to the best burgers around. We caught up on world politics and the finer points of posting on the boards. We speculated on the disappearance of Speakergrrl and the Bot Squad, and marveled at finally seeing a picture of Randy and kin.

We got to the concert in plenty of time to claim prime lawn seats, stage center. After much anticipation, they took the stage a little before 8 pm. The opening video was really funny, and the makeup job was so good that it took me a while to realize that Geddy himself is playing the role of Harry Satchel. All of the video bits were well done. Brilliant!

I was wondering how this concert would stack up performance-wise to the 6 tours I had seen before (starting with Power Windows in the spring of 1986, but that’s another tale). Let me tell you, Rush has not lost a thing! They can play as well or better than ever before. Geddy did skip a few high notes on the opener, Limelight, but he hit them on the other songs. Guess his voice did warm up after all…

Neil’s drum kit is a beautiful red, with a gold snake ring and arrow accent. You can check out a picture here. Of course, he had another kickin’ solo. The whole night, nobody flubbed anything. It was flawless precision, just what you’d expect from Rush.

A suggestion – take some binoculars so you can check out the details on stage, like the rotisserie chicken roasters, Alex’s groupies (a bunch of Barbie dolls at his feet holding up signs like “My grampa says you’re cool”), and so you can see the videos on the screen better.

The South Park animation that opened Tom Sawyer was classic. Cartman is playing the part of Geddy Lee and starts wailing, “Tom Sawyer, he built a raft, he floated down the river with a black man,” before the others cut him off. Much arguing ensues, with Cartman convinced he’s right – “I read the book!” – before Kyle tells him that it was Huckleberry Finn, not Tom Sawyer, who did all those things. “Play it right this time!” And so Cartman relents and counts off into the real song. Awesome. There’s videos on YouTube, if you’re interested in more spoiler action.

So if there are any fence-sitters out there, get thee to a ticket booth and see this show! You will love it, or else Harry Satchel will come and shove his boot so far up your arse that -- well, you’ll get the reference after you see the concert…

_________________________
"The Universe is the game of the self, which plays hide and seek forever and ever" - Alan Watts